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On the banks of the Pedernales River, only a few miles from the home in which Lyndon B. Johnson was raised, the late Charles Klein built his dream garage near Stonewall, Texas (pop. 469) in the mid-1960s. Klein’s dreams were not of diamond-plated wall coverings and recessed lighting. Klein simply wanted a dry place to work on his bulldozer when it rained.
Klein was a partner in a small business…
Secrecy was of the utmost importance in the competitive tractor market of the 1970s and 1980s. This competition--particularly between Deere and Harvester--is covered in the new book, Snoopy and the Spy (October 2024, Octane Press). In the early 1970s, Steiger made a deal so massive that it assured the company's place in the history of tractors, when they agreed to build the 4366 four-wheel-…
One of the most exciting things about doing research for a new book like Red 4WD Tractors is that, during all the digging, some fascinating artifacts always show up. A great example is this radio spot that highlights the advantages of the 656, found in the archives of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Note how different the tractor ads from this era sounded, with such a strong focus on informing…
How demanding is your commute? A third of the way into their 65-day journey covering 65 degrees of latitude down the length of the South American continent, the Expedition 65 team had already navigated some of the tallest, gnarliest Andes mountain passes, paddled through the relentless muck of the Amazon basin and flogged their adventure bikes around an F1-approved racetrack. They even managed to…
This 1970 1456 was purchased in Illinois by Coy Winslow, who took it down to the frame for a complete restoration. The tractor was in good mechanical condition, and required only a new torque to operate. Coy did the sheet metal work and paint himself, and the result is immaculate and features a host of IH options including the radio, IH hubs for the duals, a quick-hitch, and rare IH belly tanks.…
Riding the length of South America on an adventure motorcycle is no walk in the park. Navigation can go awry, and unpredictable weather conditions turn even benign brooks into raging rivers, all in the blink of an eye. This excerpt from Colin Evans and Alfonse Palaima's book, Journey to the End of the World, details an especially wet section of their thrilling Expedition 65 voyage to the bottom…
The 706 and 806 tractors were replaced by the 756 and 856, and the 1206 was replaced by the 1256. For this series, the 756 and 856 received the tubular steel grille that had already been used with the 1206. The 756 retained the same engine options as the 706, while the 856 and 1256 both made use of Harvester’s new bored and stroked versions of the D-361 called the D-407 and DT-407 (T for…
Traveling down the entire length of South America on an adventure motorcycle is the stuff of bucket lists, to be sure. But it's also a grueling test of physical and mental toughness and countless dangers, many of which are the roads themselves. The following is an excerpt from Colin Evans' and Alfonse Palaima's new book, Journey to the End of the World, which chronicles the often-challenging,…
Barrel west on Highway 80 until the forested bluffs of eastern Iowa give way to a rolling billiard table of farm fields and the radio stations dwindle to country, gospel and classic rock and you’ll find the small town of Avoca. The home of 1,582 souls is a farming community in Iowa’s southwestern corner that lays claim to a weekly newspaper, a Dollar General, actor Richard Beymer (Twin Peaks),…
In 2016, Jim Hyde, Alfonse Palaima and Colin Evans cooked up an epic plan to conquer 65 degrees of latitude across the South American landmass. Their journey with a dozen hand-picked veteran riders was dubbed Expedition65, and covered more than 10,000 brutal miles, six countries, endless mountain passes, the unforgiving Amazon basin and numerous sketchy border crossings - among other hurdles.…